The paths of digital scams are inscrutable on the Internet. So much so that, currently, it is even possible to be scammed by falling into a fraudulent business where you supposedly get paid for giving a “like” or a “thumbs up” on platforms like YouTube. And, when it comes to easy money, you always have to be on high alert.
Scammers who use this method are even capable of giving a small and testimonial income to the victim to gain their trust and then take a much larger sum than the one received, taking advantage of the fact that the person lowers their guard, trusts the scammer and gives them the money they ask for to process their “liking” job.
A scam that starts with a few “likes”
As explained by Bitdefender Labs, this scam works in a simple way: they contact you to offer you a small incentive for liking a specific video and they give you the money for it (3, 5 dollars, a small sum) to trust the person on the other side of the network. Later, they will invite you to access a platform with a high payment barrier that, after delivering the money, shows that there is no business behind it.
According to reports from the victims, the scammed money can range from $20 to $1,100, depending on the person carrying out the scam and the payment barrier imposed on the victim. Thus, what was supposed to be an “easy job” to earn some extra income turns into a nightmare.
No industry is spared
The shadow of fraud, unfortunately, is not an exclusive scourge of a single sector: practically any profession and any person can engage in scams if they have the necessary knowledge and sufficient moral justifications to have no regrets. In fact, in recent days, the recently released video game, The Day Before, has been involved in a grotesque situation in that industry.
Many times it is difficult to blindly trust projects like this because it can be difficult to know the true intentions of the people behind a job, and that is why it is important to watch out for any signs that raise alarms. In the case of The Day Before, for example, there were already many doubts raised by the lack of truthfulness of the previously shared trailers and gameplay, something that made many users take a step back and avoid supporting the game without having seen it finished first.
